Tax Resistance News from Wales, Greece, and Spain

Some international tax resistance news:

A couple from Llanllwni, Wales, has
stopped paying the so-called “bedroom tax”
to the Carmarthenshire Council. They say their council home is so poor
that, to avoid the condensation and subsequent mold in the bedroom, they
have been forced to sleep on the living room floor. If the government is
going to play slumlord, they’ll go on strike.

“War is financed with your taxes,”
headlines an article in Spain’s Nueva Tribuna about the war
tax resistance movement there, which is probably the most-active such
movement in the world today.

After Earl Grey’s administration was unable to move the Reform Act forward,
the Duke of Wellington took the reins, and that was the last straw for the
Reform advocates. They ramped up their resistance campaign with tactics that
included tax resistance and a run on the banks. Here are some excerpts from an
issue of the Staffordshire Advertiser with some of
the news from the time:

…A serious run is taking place on the Manchester Savings Bank. Six hundred and
twenty depositors, possessing
16,000l. have given
notice to withdraw, chiefly on Friday and
Saturday.

Military precautions have been taken within these few days to preserve the
peace of the Metropolis.

The Non-payment of Taxes.

Saturday, and on the previous day, a
number of the inhabitants of St.
Margaret’s and St. John’s,
Westminster, when applied to by the King’s tax-gatherer for the payment of
taxes, refused in most unqualified terms. In some instances, the tax-collector
begged and entreated as a friend the parties would pay him. Not until the
Reform Bill is passed, was the general reply. A number of the inhabitants had
notices placed to that effect in their windows. The determination is becoming
more general every hour.

Find Out More!

For more information on the topic or topics below (organized as “topic →
subtopic →
sub-subtopic”), click on any of the ♦ symbols to see other pages on this site that cover the topic. Or browse the site’s topic index at the “Outline” page.